Computer software companies and computing device manufacturers generally take care in protecting the unintended leaking and release of pictures, snapshots, screenshots, etc. of software and computing devices especially before the software or devices are available for use and/or sale to consumers. Despite that care, the aforementioned may be publically disclosed before intended through many means including inside employees' and/or third-party operators'/testers' intentional or unintentional disclosure. Additionally, software and devices may be unintentionally lost, stolen, or intentionally left in a public place for public disclosure. Such public disclosure may jeopardize the impact of a new product on the market. Currently, it is very difficult to identify and trace the device from where the leak came based on the captured screenshot images.
One such method currently used to attempt to trace back the leak is using metadata such that if a user were to take a screenshot of the pre-release software/device, the software will embed hidden metadata, such as Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) metadata, International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) metadata, and/or Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) metadata into the print-screen/screenshot/screen-capture that may provide identifying information about the device performing the screenshot when viewed on a device capable of reading such metadata. For example, when performing a screenshot, the software may be programmed to capture an image of the device's desktop screen, web-based home screen, web-based desktop (“webtop”), network-based home screen, or network-based desktop, as well as to store the device's identification information into the generated screenshot file. When read by a machine capable of reading metadata, the metadata may be revealed. But metadata fails to protect against leaked software and computing device disclosure for a number of reasons. First, there exists software to remove/scrub metadata such that the screenshot may be disseminated without the metadata. Second, if the image of the software/device is captured by a system outside the device itself (e.g., an external camera as opposed to using print-screen to capture a screenshot) the metadata is not captured by the external device. Therefore, hidden metadata fails to protect software and devices from unpermitted disclosure.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a mechanism for protecting the unintended disclosure of computer software or devices without being easily detected or defeated.